news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

British Airways said that it has been advised by the Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU) that the union has called off the first 24 hours of a planned 72 hours stoppage by cabin crew, due to begin on Jan 29.

The airline intends to announce a flying programme tomorrow for Jan 30 and Jan 31. Strikes are still scheduled to take place on those dates, followed by 72-hour walkouts on Feb 5 and Feb 12.

In the wake of the decision, British Airways said in a separate statement that the TGWU ”should act immediately” to call off its planned strikes completely.

source: Forbes

Low-cost airline Ryanair has launched a campaign offering 1 mln free flights to passengers who write to UK chancellor Gordon Brown to voice their disapproval about the forthcoming 10 stg air passenger duty bill.

The government, which raised the charge from 5 stg, said the increase is a response to growing fears the aviation industry is a significant contributor to global warming.

source: Forbes

Spirit Airlines has purchased 30 additional Airbus A319 aircraft, with new deliveries beginning in 2009 and continuing through 2013.

When combined with Spirit’s existing all-Airbus fleet and current orders, this new order would grow the airline’s fleet to 70 aircraft. The aircraft will be powered by V2500 engines from International Aero Engines (IAE). In addition, Spirit has agreed to purchase eleven spare engines from IAE to support its existing and newly ordered Airbus fleet.

“‘Spirit’s new business model and low cost structure are anchored by the efficiency of the Airbus single-aisle aircraft and the V2500 powerplant,’” said Ben Baldanza, President and CEO of Spirit Airlines. “‘When coupled with high productivity in all parts of our operation, these new airplanes affirm Spirit’s position as the leading low cost carrier to the Caribbean and Latin America as well as provide the basis for a sound and rational growth plan into the next decade.’”

source: BusinessWire

Swiss has been named “Best Airline for Europe” in this year`s coveted Business Traveller Awards. The overall top spot was the result of the airline`s top rankings in various specific areas: the readers of  Germany`s Business Traveller magazine placed Switzerland`s quality carrier first in the “Cabin Crew”, “Ground Services”, “Cabin Comfort” and “Inflight Food & Drink” categories. Swiss also earned third place overall in the “Best Airline to the Middle East and Africa” category.

source: Traveldailynews

Dusseldorf International closed the year 2006 with a record number of passengers. The airport saw 16.6 million passengers, more than ever before in its history. This was over a million passengers more than in the previous year, a growth rate of seven percent. The number of arrivals and departures at Nordrhein-Westfalen’s largest airport increased by about 7.5 percent over the previous year to over 215,000 flights – also a historic high.

source: traveldailynews.com

Deutsche Lufthansa AG has dismissed as ”pure speculation” a report in the La Stampa daily it is considering bidding for a stake in ailing Italian carrier Alitalia SpA.”This is pure speculation,” a Lufthansa spokesman said.

The Italian government has invited interested parties to present bids for a stake of between 30.1 pct and 49.9 pct in Alitalia by Jan 29.

In early December, Lufthansa’s head of marketing and sales, Thierry Antinori, said his company was not interested in taking a stake in Alitalia because the German airline already has a presence in the Italian market.

source: Forbes

GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, Brazil’s low-cost, low-fare airline, marks its sixth anniversary of operations today. The Company, which took on the unprecedented responsibility of popularizing air transportation in Brazil and South America, celebrates this anniversary with some of the best numbers in the history of Brazilian aviation. Over the last six years, GOL transported 55 million passengers; including five million first time flyers. GOL’s current fleet of 65 aircraft operates over 600 daily flights to 55 destinations, including seven international routes to five countries in South America. In December 2006, GOL had domestic and international Brazilian market shares of 37.1 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively. The Company’s average load factor in 2006 was 74%, the highest in the industry, and GOL has been the most punctual airline in Brazil for over 18 months.

source: Yahoo!

A second dead body had been found on in the wheel well of aircraft originating from West Africa over the weekend.

Belgian carrier SN Brussels has confirmed that a deceased human body has been found inside the main gear wheel well Number 1 (left) of an Airbus A330-300 operating flight SN 204 from Banjul, The Gambia via Dakar, Senegal that landed at Brussels airport this morning. SN Brussels Airlines, which is soon to complete its merger with Virgin Express to become Brussels Airlines, says it is cooperating fully with the Belgian investigation authorities.

source: flightglobal.com

The Transport & General union, representing around 30,000 workers at British Airways, said on Monday cabin crew had voted for strike action over a deal put forward by the airline to tackle its pension deficit.

The airline has agreed to make a one-off contribution of GBP800 million pounds (USD$1.57 billion) into the pension fund in return for changes to benefits as part of a plan to lower its GBP2.1 billion (USD$4.13 billion) deficit to GBP900 million (USD$1.77 billion).

source: Airwise

The Mexican low-cost carrier Interjet has signed a contract with Airbus at the end of December 2006 for the acquisition of ten additional A320s, hereby converting their options into a firm order. These were part of an order for ten A320s plus ten options placed at the Paris Air Show in June 2005.

Interjet is based at Toluca airport near Mexico City, and recently celebrated its first anniversary of scheduled services in the Mexican domestic market.

source: luchtzak.be